227 m long and 49 m wide, the Viraat cruises at around 28 knots, powered by eighty thousand horsepower of steam turbines. It is outfitted with two SAM launchers, eight torpedoes, and six 30mm AA guns. 43 officers and 1,300 enlisted personnel operate the ship, its thirty Sea Harriers, and its seven Sea King helicopters.

It was refitted at Cochin in 1997 with new radar, communications, and other systems that will extend its operating life to around 2010. At that point, it will have to be replaced: the Indian Navy has been negotiating with Russia to buy one of their carriers, the Kiev-class Gorshkov, modified to accommodate modern fighters like the MiG-29. They are also planning to build their own carrier, called the Air Defense Ship.